The Indian equities ended on a lower note weighed by realty, IT, teck and healthcare stocks. The Sensex opened flat with a rise of 9.74 points or 0.06% at 17,650.82 on positive Asian shares. It traded in a narrow range amid volatility in the first half and later in the second half, the index slipped further as European market opened in red. Sustained selling was seen in index heavyweights thus closing on a weak note after touching a low of 17,463.78.

Meanwhile, European stocks fell before a report that may show investor confidence in the region`s biggest economy dropped for a fourth month in January amid signs the recovery is slowing. Asian shares slid, while US futures rose. Asian stocks fell for a second day as declining computer-memory prices hurt chipmakers; banks dropped on concern earnings growth will slow, and a stronger yen threatened profits at Japanese exporters.

At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex lost 155.02 or 0.88% at 17,486.06 with 23 components posting drop. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty went down by 49.20 or 0.93% at 5,225.65 with 42 components registering drop.

Finance Ministry today disbursed around Rs 120 billion as cash subsidy to oil marketing companies. Also said that from this part, Rs 70 billion would be given to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). goo

The Oil & Gas index was at 10,531.69 down by 156.68 points or by 1.47%. The major losers were G A I L (India) (3.01%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (2.09%), Aban Offshore (1.96%), Essar Oil (1.01%) and Cairn India (0.44%).

The IT index was at 5,342.79 down by 91.25 points or by 1.68%. The major losers were Aptech (2.92%), Oracle Financial Services Software (1.89%), Mphasis (1.64%), Infosys Technologies (1.6%) and H C L Technologies (0.01%).

The HC index was at 5,062.98 down by 79.19 points or by 1.54%. The major losers were Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (3.21%), Cipla (1.87%), Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals (1.8%), Divis Laboratories (1.22%) and Aurobindo Pharma (1%).

On the other hand, the Bankex index was at 10,205.37 up by 44.62 points or by 0.44%. The major gainers were Bank Of Baroda(1.44%), Canara Bank (1.02%), H D F C Bank (0.61%), Allahabad Bank (0.39%) and I C I C I Bank (0.01%).

Market Breadth

Market breadth was negative with 1,114 advances against 1,844 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

Hindustan Copper topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 3,120.92 million. It was followed by NMDC (Rs. 1,713.84 million), Mahindra Satyam (Rs. 1,403.85 million) and State Trading Corporation of India (Rs. 1,353.57 million).

The volume chart was led by Mahindra Satyam with trades of over 12.72 million shares. It was followed by Hindustan Organic Chemicals (8.79 million), Alok Industries (8.67 million) and Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals (7.76 million).

The initial public offer (IPO) of fast-food chain Jubilant Foodworks was subscribed 3.46 as at 16:00 IST on the second day of the issue on Tuesday, 19 January 2010, National Stock Exchange data showed. The IPO received bids for 6.78 crore shares as against 1.96 crore shares on offer. The issue closes on 20 January 2010.

At the issue price of Rs 135-145, on the EPS of Rs 1.1 for FY 2009, the PE works out to 123 to 132 times. However, the PE based on annualized EPS of Rs 3.8 for the six months ended September 2009, works out to 35 to 38 times.

Jubilant Foodworks is offering 2.26 crore equity shares aggregating to approximately Rs 328.72 crore at upper end of the price band and Rs 306.05 crore at the lower end of the price band. The company has fixed an IPO price band of Rs 135-145 per share.

The public offering will include a fresh issue of 40 lakh shares and an offer for sale of more than 1.86 crore shares by India Private Equity Fund (Mauritius) and Indocean Pizza Holding.

Jubilant Foodworks, the exclusive franchisee for Domino's Pizza chain in India, plans to use the funds to prepay term loans and for other general corporate purposes.

The company currently operates over 280 Domino's Pizza outlets across 59 cities in the country. It also has five outlets through sub-franchisee in Sri Lanka and is looking at establishing presence in Nepal and Bangladesh.

The company reported net profit of Rs 6.74 crore on net sales of Rs 280.61 crore in the half-year ended September 2009.

European indices were trading lower, as banks slipped ahead of key earnings results, but Cadbury hit record highs after the British confectioner accepted a $19.2 billion takeover offer from Kraft. At the time of writing this report FTSE 100 was trading 0.84% lower.

Asian indices had a mixed closing on Tuesday as with exporters such as Honda Motor Co hurt by a stronger yen, while investors locked in profits in wake of a recent rally. Nikkei and Seoul Composite closed lower, while Shanghai Composite, Straits Times and Hang Seng closed marginally up. SGX Nifty closed 53 points lower.

Indian indices

The bears hit back strongly and triggered a major sell-off in the market today. Tracking weak Asian markets, the Sensex resumed the session 10 points higher at 17651 but continued to head south. The market moved in a range with a negative bias. Towards the close, it witnessed panic selling below 17500-mark to touch the day's low of 17464. The Sensex ended the session 155 points lower at 17486 whereas Nifty shed 49 points to close at 5226.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was extremely negative, with the losers outnumbering the gainers. Of the 2,994 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,828 stocks declined, 1,112 stocks advanced and 54 stocks ended unchanged.

Of the 30 Sensex stocks the table toppers were Bharat Heavy Electricals that gained 0.83%, State Bank of India that moved up 0.77%, and HDFC Bank which advanced 0.42% for the day. Among laggards, Hindalco Industries declined 3.11%, ACC tumbled 2.87%, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries lost 2.45%, Grasim Industries moved down 2.40%, Tata Consultancy Services plunged 2.33% and DLF lost 2.08%.

Stock markets in Asian region exhibits a mixed trend on Tuesday, 19 January 2010, as investor's trade cautiously due to lack of significant triggers as stocks on Wall Street were closed yesterday. Though some market finished lower, the losses posted by them was limited as a section of investors are seen going in for stocks at lower levels on expectations of fairly good earnings results for the October-December 2009 quarter.

On Wall Street, stock markets were closed on the account of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday which celebrated on every third Monday of January in the US.

In the commodity market, crude oil rose for the first time in six days as the dollar weakened and some investors took the view that a drop below $79 a barrel made futures attractive to buy. Crude also gained on a report yesterday China's imports may rise 15% in 2010 as the second-largest energy consumer starts building the second phase of its strategic oil reserves.

Crude oil for February delivery climbed as much as 68 cents, or 0.9%, to $78.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $78.12 at 3:07 p.m. Singapore time.

Brent crude oil for March settlement was at $76.83 a barrel at 3:08 p.m. Singapore time. It earlier rose as much as 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $77.29 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Gold rose as the dollar weakened. Gold for immediate delivery rose for a second day to $1,136.60 an ounce.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar kept a mixed tone in the Asian afternoon Tuesday, ending the session about where it had started the day, with developments in the corporate sector driving sentiment as players waited for the re-opening of U.S. markets.

The Japanese yen strengthened against greenback to one month high on Tuesday on speculation the US economic recovery will slow, prompting the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates near zero to sustain growth, boosted demand for the safe-haven Japanese currency. Japan's currency was quoted at 90.562 per US dollar on Tuesday after touching 1-month high of 90.36 in early trade from yesterday quote at Y90.784 per dollar in New York.

The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7627 against the dollar. Actually the Hong Kong dollar is pegged at HK$ 7.8 to the U.S. dollar but can trade between HK$ 7.75 and HK$7.85 to the U.S. dollar.

In Sydney trades, the Australian dollar traded within one US cent of a two-month high after prices of commodities, which account for a majority of exports, advanced on speculation global demand will increase. Australia's currency traded at 92.66 US cents as of 12:21 p.m. in Sydney from 92.63 cents yesterday in New York. It rose to 93.28 on 14 January 2010, the strongest since 18 November 2008.

In Wellington trades, the New Zealand dollar briefly stretched above US74c today as non-US dollar currencies got a lift from reports that food company Kraft is likely to lift its bid for Cadbury. The NZ dollar was US 73.84 c at 5 pm from US73.96 cents at 8 am and US73.57c at 5 pm yesterday.

The South Korean won closed at 1127.50 won to the greenback, down from Monday 1,124.50 won.

The Taiwan dollar weakened against the greenback. The Taiwan dollar was trading lower against the US dollar at NT$ 31.8000, 0.0100 up from Monday's close of NT$31.7900.

In Japan, the share market continued yesterday decline with the benchmark Nikkei index tumbled further, with steep losses in banks and financials and export related shares. Strengthening yen to 1-month high against greenback weighed down automakers and electronic makers, while cautious ahead of the earning season in the Japan and US taking toll in heavyweight stocks.

At the closing bell, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average index was at 10,764.90, melted 90.18 points or 0.83%, while the broader Topix of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange slid 7.79 points, or 0.81%, to 949.76.

In Mainland China, the stock market continued gains for fourth day in row, helped by financials, materials and resources, and energy-related shares. Materials and resources and energy stocks gained on bargain hunting after the commodity metal and oil prices gained ground. Gains were also supported by expectation of robust corporate earnings, which help to offset weak sentiment from the monetary tightening concerns.

Chinese banking stocks advanced as concerns over monetary tightening eased after comments from the country's banking regulator late Monday. The China Banking Regulatory Commission sent a mobile-phone text message to reporters saying banks will always be required to base their lending on real demand and properly manage the pace and quality of lending. The comments were taken as a response to a report, widely cited by local media, that the CBRC had set new yuan loan quotas for the country's big state-owned lenders.

The advance came although the People's Bank of China raised the yield on its benchmark one-year bills for the second straight week in its open market operation, renewing some concerns about further monetary tightening.

At the closing bell, the Shanghai Composite Index, measuring A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, climbed 9.77 points, or 0.3%, to 3,246.87, while the Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange has lost 10.85 points, or 0.08%, to 13,350.67. The CSI 300 Index, measuring exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, rose 0.19%, to 3,507.48.

In Hong Kong, the share market ended black first time in six days, off a morning slumps on broad based bargain hunting across the market heavyweights on attractive valuation following steep sell off in previous five days. Gains were also supported by media report that Beijing may allow individual investors to invest in Hong Kong and other overseas market.

At the end of today's session, the Hang Seng Index has gained 217.97 points, or 1.02%, to 21,677.98, while the Hang Seng China Enterprise, which tracks the overall performance of 43 mainland Chinese state-owned enterprises on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, jumped 310.50 points, or 2.53%, to 12,600.76.

In Australia, the share market tumbled first time in five days on broad based selling across the sector, exception was information technology which was firmer on profit upgrade by Computershare.

Financials lost ground on profit taking in major banks after strong recent rally. Property trusts slumped in the face of broad losses in the sector. Materials and industrials tumbled as number of sector heavyweight declining into negative territory. A sea of red reflected widespread across major retailers. Information technology shares soared, in the wake of an earnings upgrade by Computershare.

At the closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index tumbled 49.90 points, or 1.02%, to 4,861.20, meanwhile the broader All Ordinaries melted 46.50 points, or 0.94%, to 4,889.60.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday that Australia's international merchandise imports rose one % to A$17.66 billion in December, unadjusted, from a revised A$17.55 billion in November.

In New Zealand, the share market fell today as investors continued to take profits and trim positions ahead of the corporate reporting season. The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 19.512 points, or 0.60%, at 3227.592, after opening down around 8.28 points.

In Singapore, key stock index finished the choppy session inched up after fluctuating in the boundary most of time due to weak trading across other markets and caution ahead of earnings in the US also impacted market sentiment. Positive closing was mostly attributed to rebound in China and Hong Kong market and firmer commodity metal and oil prices. At the closing bell, the blue chip Straits Times Index was at 2,912.92, edged up 0.90 points or 0.03%.

In Taiwan, stock market in Taiwan tanked on Tuesday to a one-week closing low as major technology firms slipped on investor fears shares may have been overbought following recent gains. The benchmark Taiex share index extended loses in second session, as the index finished day lower by 88.82 points or 1.07% at 8249.82.

In Philippines, equities slipped marginally today as the markets eyed a mixed to bearish activity in the Asian equities. The benchmark index PSEi lost 0.69% or 21.73 points to 3,084.57, while the All Shares index fell 0.53% or 10.45 points to 1,932.23.

In India, the benchmark indices extended losses to hit fresh intraday lows in late trade as weakness in world stocks weighed on investor sentiment. Global stocks fell as investors awaited key earnings reports from the US. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged lower in volatile trade. IT, realty, auto and healthcare stocks fell. But banking stocks rose. The market breadth was weak. The breadth was strong earlier in the day. The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 155.02 points or 0.88% to 17,486.06. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 49.20 points or 0.93% to 5225.65.

In other equities, banks led losses for European shares on Tuesday, offsetting potential deal-inspired gains for chocolate maker Cadbury. Overall, the U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 0.9% or 48.52 points to 5,446, the German DAX index lost 0.8% or 46.99 points to 5,872 and the French CAC-40 index declined 0.73% or 28.94 points to 3,949.

The key benchmark indices lost ground in choppy trade as weakness in world stocks weighed on investor sentiment. Global stocks fell as investors awaited key earnings reports from the US. The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 155.02 points or 0.88%, off close to 180 points from the day's high and up close to 20 points from the day's low. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged lower in volatile trade. IT, realty, auto and healthcare stocks fell. But banking stocks rose. The market breadth was weak. The breadth was strong earlier in the day.

Volatility was high. The market moved between positive and negative zone earlier in the trading session. After hitting a fresh intraday low, the Sensex recovered in morning trade as US index futures rose. But the intraday recovery proved short lived. The market weakened in mid-morning trade. It trimmed losses in early afternoon trade. The intraday recovery gathered further steam in afternoon trade. A sell-off was witnessed later. The market extended losses in late trade tracking weak European stocks.

India VIX, a volatility index based on the S&P CNX Nifty index option prices rose 3.67% at 22.34. India VIX is a measure of the market's expectation of volatility over the next 30 calendar days

The Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday it was permitting the introduction of currency futures in euro, yen, and pound sterling with immediate effect. Prior to this, the Reserve Bank of India had only allowed currency futures trading in dollar-rupee contracts.

The monthly inflation may touch double digits by March 2010, Chief Statistician Pronab Sen told a television media on Tuesday.

Wholesale price inflation jumped to its fastest in a year in December 2009, even as statements from the central bank and government officials provide contrasting signals on rates. The wholesale price index (WPI) rose 7.3% in December 2009 from a year earlier, driven by a near 20% jump in food prices after severe weather hit crops across the country. While central bank officials have been sounding concerned on the inflation front, government officials have been sounding wary of monetary tightening and its impact on economic growth.

As per recent media reports, commercial banks are unlikely to raise lending rates in the near term even if the central bank signals a tightening of the monetary policy by hiking the cash reserve ratio (CRR). Bankers, economists and bond markets expect a hike in CRR by the central bank at a quarterly policy review on 29 January 2010. CRR is a slice of deposits that banks have to mandatorily park with the central bank. However, commercial banks do not want to tweak rates in the near term now, given the surplus liquidity in the system and poor demand for loans.

On 8 January 2010, State Bank of India chairman OP Bhatt had indicated to the media that interest rates will remain stable until June 2010 even if the CRR was raised by 50 basis points. The timing and sequence of exit from an easy policy is still a challenge, Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao said on Monday, 18 January 2010. Subbarao, who was speaking at a conference in Goa, also said the challenge was to support growth without compromising price stability.

The gross domestic product growth is expected to accelerate in 2010 from 2009, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anand Sharma, said on Tuesday. Speaking at a forum in Beijing, Sharma asserted that the country's exports recovery is sustainable, but he called for greater access for Indian goods in China in the face of a widening bilateral trade gap. Bilateral trade between the two giants has grown rapidly, making China India's second-largest trading partner. He called for more Chinese direct investment in India, especially in infrastructure, while noting that Indian firms are already present in China.

The government may reportedly take the first step towards fiscal consolidation in Budget 2010-11 by partially rolling back tax cuts given to the industry last year. The service tax rate may be restored to 12%, while excise duty could be increased marginally. The finance ministry is considering a phased exit of the stimulus measures as the economy posted a robust 7.9% growth in Q2 September 2009. To begin with, the government wants to withdraw measures that are not likely to impact the industry significantly, such as the 2% service tax cut.

In the case of excise duty, the increase may not be equivalent to 6% reduction that the industry got from the government as part of the stimulus measures. The Budget changes would also be used as an opportunity to rationalise indirect taxes ahead of introduction of the goods and services tax (GST).

Meanwhile, the initial public offer (IPO) of fast-food chain Jubilant Foodworks was subscribed 3.46 times by 16:00 IST on day two of IPO on Tuesday. The company has fixed IPO price band of Rs 135-Rs 145 per share.

Ahead of the opening of the issue, Jubilant had raised about Rs 44 crore from anchor investors. The company received bids for 30.6 lakh shares at Rs 145 per share (the upper end of the price band) towards the anchor investor portion of the offer. The anchor investors to whom equity shares have been allocated pursuant to the offer include Arisaig Partners, Blackrock, Canara Robeco Mutual Fund, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, HSBC, Reliance Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund, T Rowe Price and Ward Ferry.

France raised its economic growth forecast for 2010 on Monday but the central banks of Germany and Italy offered more sobering readouts on the probable strength of the recovery from recession in Europe.

The predictions on growth came alongside warnings from International Monetary Fund officials of the risks that developed economies may relapse if too rapidly deprived of the huge fiscal and monetary stimulus deployed to combat the aftermath of the financial crisis.

European shares retreated on Tuesday as banks slipped ahead of key earnings results, but Cadbury hit record highs after the British confectioner accepted a $19.2 billion takeover offer from Kraft . The key benchmark indices in France, Garmany and UK were down by between 0.81% to 0.93%.

A closely-watched indicator of investor sentiment in Germany took a bigger-than-expected fall in January. The Center for European Economic Research, or ZEW, said its expectations index declined to 47.2 from 50.4 in December. Economists had forecast a smaller decline to 49.8.

Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday. The key benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan fell by between 0.09% to 1.07%. The key benchmark indices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and China rose by between 0.03% to 1.02%.

The central banks of China and Taiwan tightened policy on Tuesday to drain money from the banking system, marking intensified efforts in the region to head off inflation and cool asset bubbles. A week after raising bank reserve ratio requirements, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) lifted the auction yield on one-year bills in its regular open market operation for a second week in a row, and by more than expected.

Taiwan also nudged up its overnight lending rate, the rate at which banks borrow and lend to each other, by one basis point to an eight-month high.

Trading in US index index futures indicated Dow could fall 20 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, 19 January 2010. US index futures reversed early gains.

Some 57 S&P 500 companies report this week including Citigroup and IBM on Tuesday. Bank of America Corp. unveils results on Wednesday, 20 January 2010.

Closer home, the BSE 30-share Sensex fell 155.02 points or 0.88% to 17,486.06. The Sensex fell 177.30 points at the day's low of 17,463.78 in late trade. At the day's high of 17,664.86, the Sensex rose 23.78 points in early trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty fell 49.20 points or 0.93% to 5225.65.

The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.63% and the BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.56%. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was weak. On BSE, 1105 shares advanced compared with 1829 that declined. A total of 52 shares remained unchanged. The breadth was strong earlier in the day.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 1.31%. RIL last week raised $763 million through a block sale of 3.3 crore shares. Reliance, which is bidding for bankrupt LyondellBasell Industries, had previously sold treasury shares to state-owned insurer Life Insurance Corp of India raising $577 million. As per reports last week, Reliance had sweetened its offer to buy a controlling stake that valued LyondellBasell at $13.5 billion. RIL will announce its Q3 result on Friday, 22 January 2010.

Tata Power Company fell 1.43% even as net profit jumped 40.37% to Rs 141.89 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008. The company announced the result during market hours today.

NTPC, India's largest utility by sales, fell 1.6% falling for the second straight day. The company said last week its follow-on public offer of 41.22 crore shares, or 5% in the company, will open on 3 February 2010 and close on 5 February 2010. The government holds an 89.5% stake in NTPC.

Among other power stocks, Torrent Power, Reliance Power and Power Grid Corporation of India fell by between 0.02% to 1.72%.

IT stocks fell on profit taking after recent solid rally triggered by strong Q3 numbers from Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys. India's largest IT exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services fell 2.38%. Consolidated net profit as per US accounting standard rose 11% to Rs 1822.20 basis crore on 3% growth in sales to Rs 7650.30 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q2 September 2009. The third quarter earnings surpassed market estimates as demand for outsourcing surged and prices stabilised, fuelling hopes of recovery in the showpiece sector.

India's third largest software services exporter Wipro fell 1.34%. The company will announce its Q3 result on Wednesday, 20 January 2010. The company is reportedly set to launch a $1 billion sponsored American Depository Receipts (ADR) offering that could possibly see the promoters and promoter group led by Azim Premji offloading some of their stake in the company.

IT bellwether Infosys fell 1.6%. Infosys, last week, raised its full-year revenue and profit outlook after strong Q3 results and on improving trend for outsourcing orders. The company's consolidated net profit as per Indian accounting standards rose 2.72% to Rs 1582 crore on 2.8% rise in consolidated revenue to Rs 5741 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q2 September 2009. The company announced result on Tuesday 12 January 2010.

Infosys has raised earnings and revenue guidance for the year ending March 2010 (FY 2010) both in rupee and dollar terms. Infosys has forecast a 1.8% to 2% growth in consolidated dollar revenue for FY 2010 compared from a drop it had projected at the time of announcing Q2 September 2009 results. Infosys said FY 2010 consolidated revenue in dollar terms could rise to $4.75 billion to $4.76 billion, from $4.6 billion to $4.62 billion forecast earlier. The consolidated earnings per American depository share for the full year is seen rising 0.4% to $2.26, the company said in a statement.

Rate sensitive realty stocks fell on reports the finance ministry has rejected a proposal by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) that had suggested dropping the mandatory three-year lock-in for foreign direct investment in the real estate sector, affecting the prospects of the sector raising funds from overseas. Unitech, Omaxe, Indiabulls Real Estate, Anant Raj Industries fell by between 0.22% to 2.9%.

India's largest realty player by market capitalization DLF fell 1.82%. DLF has reportedly decided to exit from its mutual fund venture, DLF Pramerica Mutual Fund, by selling its entire stake to the overseas partner in the venture, the US-based Prudential Financial, as the company seeks to focus on its core business. Prudential Financial (PFI) is expected to buy DLF's 39% stake in the asset management company that is yet to start operations.

Most of the Auto stocks fell on profit taking. India's top truck maker by sales India's largest tractor marker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) fell 1.52%. M&M marked its entry into the heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) segment with its unveiling of 25 and 31 tonne trucks with its US-based joint venture partner Navistar Inc.

Mahindra & Mahindra, reported 122% rise in its domestic sales to 22,754 units in December 2009 over December 2008. The company sold a total of 24,001 vehicles (domestic plus exports) in December 2009 as against 11,172 vehicles sold in December 2008.

India's largest motorcycle maker by sales Hero Honda Motors fell 1.63%. Hero Honda will comfortably exceed its fiscal 2009/10 sales target of 40 lakh units, its managing director Pawan Munjal said to media on 7 January 2010. Sales jumped 74% to 375,838 units in December 2009 over December 2008.

India's largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki fell 0.99%. The company said on Saturday 16 January 2010 it has raised the prices of some of its models to recover the rise in input costs. It said the price increases, effective immediately, varied from 0.12% to 1.9% with an average price rise of 0.6%. There was no increase in prices of its recently launched five-seater multipurpose vehicle Eeco, the petrol version of its Swift hatchback and its Gypsy utility vehicles, it said in its statemen. "For some models the increase in the costs are being absorbed by the company, in the light of market situation," it said. Maruti, in which Japan's Suzuki Corp has a 54.2 % stake, sells one of every two cars in India.

Maruti Suzuki India reported 50.6% increase in total vehicle sales to 84,804 units in December 2009 over December 2008. Domestic sales rose 36.5% to 71,000 units, while exports surged 223.7% to 13,804 units.

Tata Motors, India's largest commercial vehicle maker by sales, fell 0.61%. The company said on Friday it sold 74,707 vehicles globally in December 2009, a rise of 84 % from a year earlier. This included sales of Jaguar and Land Rover, which rose 33% from a year earlier to 21,134 vehicles, it said in a statement.

But, Bajaj Auto rose 2.38% extending gains for the third day in a row. Net profit surged 189.20% to Rs 507.29 crore on 57.9% spurt in net sales to Rs 3165.84 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008. The company announced the result after market hours on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.

India's largest private sector bank by operating income HDFC Bank rose 0.61% extending recent gains after bank's net profit jumped 31.6% to Rs 818.50 crore on 5.4% growth in net total income to Rs 3076.90 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008. The result exceeded market expectations. Its ADR fell 0.94% on Friday. The bank announced the result during market hours on Friday, 15 January 2010.

After a significant moderation in systems loan growth during the period October-December 2009, the banking system credit growth has gradually started gaining momentum, as per the latest RBI data

India's largest dedicated housing finance firm by revenue HDFC fell 1.86%. The lender will announce its Q3 result on Wednesday, 20 January 2010.

Shares of consumer durable companies were in demand on hopes higher consumer spending may reflect in their third quarter earnings. Gitanjali Gems, Titan Industries (up 3.04%), Rajesh Exports and Asian Star Company rose by between 0.1% to 2.66% .

UltraTech Cement fell 0.66%. The company's net profit declined 17.8% to Rs 196.03 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008. The company announced the result on Saturday, 16 January 2010.

Among other cement stocks, Birla Corporation, ACC and Ambuja Cements fell by between 1.49% to 3.09%.

Jaiprakash Associates fell 1.87%. The company's net profit fell 38.9% to Rs 103.02 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008. The company said the latest quarter profit was after a one-time expense of Rs 212 crore towards employee compensation. The company announced the result during market hours on Monday.

India's largest power equipment maker by sales Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) rose 0.86%, extending gains for the second straight day. Analysts expect strong Q3 December 2009 results from Bhel, helped by large order book and stable execution. The profitability is likely to surge on the back of increased volumes and lower-cost inventory being used.

A total of seven brokerages expect a between 29% to 47.7% growth in Bhel's net profit at between Rs 1016.90 crore to Rs 1167.60 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008. Bhel had reported net profit of Rs 790.60 crore in Q3 December 2008. Bhel announces Q3 results on Thursday, 21 January 2010.

India's largest engineering & construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro (L&T) fell 0.67%. L&T will reportedly invest around Rs 25000 crore to build its thermal power business in the next five years. L&T Power, the wholly-owned subsidiary of L&T, will have a generation capacity of 5,500 megawatts (MW), including hydro power, by 2015. The company will announce its Q3 result on Thursday, 21 January 2010.

The company said recently it has received contracts worth Rs 2,325 crore for commercial and residential construction in Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal and Chandigarh

Tata Steel, the world's eighth-largest steelmaker was flat. The company said on 5 January 2010 sales from its Indian operations rose 73% in December 2009 to 636,000 tonnes from a year earlier. The Indian operations account for about a quarter of the group's total annual global capacity of 30 million tonnes, which includes unit Corus, Europe's second-largest steelmaker

The market may open lower tracking weak trade in most of Asian stocks. However bout of volatility may not be ruled out after the recent surge in indices. US markets remain closed on Monday.

Wholesale price inflation jumped to its fastest in a year in December, even as statements from the central bank and government officials provide contrasting signals on rates. The wholesale price index (WPI) rose 7.3 % in December from a year earlier, driven by a near 20 % jump in food prices after severe weather hit crops across the country. While central bank officials have been sounding concerned on the inflation front, government officials have been sounding wary of monetary tightening and its impact on economic growth.

Bankers, economists and bond markets expect a hike in the CRR by the central bank at a quarterly policy review on 29 January 2010. CRR is a slice of deposits that banks have to mandatorily park with the central bank. However, banks do not want to tweak rates in the near term now, given the surplus liquidity in the system and poor demand for loans.

On 8 January 2010, State Bank of India chairman OP Bhatt had indicated to the media that interest rates will remain stable until June 2010 even if the CRR was raised by 50 basis points. The timing and sequence of exit from an easy policy is still a challenge, Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao said on Monday, 18 January 2010. Subbarao, who was speaking at a conference in Goa, also said the challenge was to support growth without compromising price stability.

Tata Power Company will declare its Q3 December 2009 ended quarter results today, 19 January 2010.

France raised its economic growth forecast for 2010 on Monday but the central banks of Germany and Italy offered more sobering readouts on the probable strength of the recovery from recession in Europe.

The predictions on growth came alongside warnings from International Monetary Fund officials of the risks that developed economies may relapse if too rapidly deprived of the huge fiscal and monetary stimulus deployed to combat the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Most of the Asian stocks fell after early fluctuation on Tuesday as Japanese exporters of cars and electronics fell, while commodity producers rose on oil and metal prices. The key benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan fell by between 0.12% to 0.97%. But, the key benchmark indices in Indonesia and China rose by between 0.16% to 0.34%.

US markets remain closed on Monday, 18 January 2010 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Closer home, the key benchmark indices edged higher on Monday, 18 January 2010 on reports banks are unlikely to raise lending rates in the near term even if the central bank signals a tightening of the monetary policy by hiking the cash reserve ratio (CRR). Robust Q3 results from IT giant TCS and firm European market also underpinned sentiment. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 86.78 points or 0.49% at 17,641.08 on that day.

As per the provisional figures on NSE, foreign funds bought shares worth of Rs 152.90 crore and domestic funds sold shares worth of Rs 21.46 crore.

We recommend a buy in Geometric from a short-term perspective. It is evident from the charts of the stock that after touching a multi-year low at Rs 10.5 in March 2009, the stock reversed direction. Since then the stock has been on a longer-term uptrend, forming higher peaks and higher troughs consistently. It broke through key resistances at Rs 42 and Rs 63 while trending upwards backed with good volumes. Moreover, the stock broke out of a sideway consolidation range between Rs 66 and Rs 73 by gaining 7 per cent with high volume. The daily relative strength index is hovering in the bullish zone and weekly RSI also is featuring in this zone. Both the daily and weekly moving average convergence and divergence indicators are hovering in the positive territory. Considering that the longer and medium-term uptrend lines are in tact, we are bullish on the stock from a short-term horizon. We anticipate its rally to prolong until it hits our short-term price target of Rs 84. Traders with short-term perspective can consider buying the stock while maintaining stop-loss at Rs 72.

Bharti Airtel plans to pick up stake in public sector telecom companies in Africa and other developing countries through the disinvestment process. (BL)

GAIL will pick up 4% stake in the US$2bn Myanmar-China gas pipeline project, while OVL, the overseas arm of ONGC, will pick up another 8-8.5% stake in the pipeline project that will link two gas producing blocks A1 and A3 in Myanmar with consuming centres in the mainland China. (ET)

Government has asked ONGC to adopt a consortium approach instead of a joint venture with the Hindujas to pick up participating interest in the US$12.5bn South Pars-12 gas projects in Iran that would ensure long-term supply of 6mn ton of LNG to India. (ET)

L&T will invest around Rs250bn to build its thermal power business in the next five years. (ET)

L&T may borrow US$4.4bn to build a power-generation business and is considering buying coal mines in Australia and Indonesia to gain fuel supplies. (FE)

TCS will complete the process of bringing on board freshers from the 2008-09 batch by March. (BL)

TCS has decided to give salary increments to its 0.2mn employees during financial year ending March 2011. (ET)

NTPC is betting on higher valuations for its upcoming FPO, thanks to the new `French auction' model slated to be tried out for the institutional portion of the proposed share sale. (BL)

GAIL is keen to join NTPC in a new 2,000 MW power plant planned adjacent to the beleaguered Dabhol plant in Maharashtra. (ET)

Indian Hotels has decided not to subscribe to a public offer from the luxury hotel chain Orient Express Hotels. (ET)

Reliance Capital is looking to sell up to 20% stake in Reliance Mutual Fund to a strategic foreign partner. (ET)

M&M launched its recently-developed small commercial vehicle Gio in the South Indian market, beginning with Hyderabad. (BL)

Tata Tea, which had gradually increased its stake in Mount Everest Mineral Water over 10 months, has now acquired management control, with a 50.2% stake. (BS)

Marg Ltd signed a project development agreement with the Karnataka Government to develop the Bijapur Airport. (BL)

Golden Tobacco received the shareholders’ permission at an EGM to develop property at Vile Parle in Mumbai and sell real estate assets in Hyderabad and Guntur. (ET)

Following a recent directive from RBI to specify the end use of its Rs43bn bond issue, the Essar group said it has issued a new memorandum detailing the "potential" areas where the money would be utilized. (ET)

Strategic Energy Technology Systems, a JV between Tatas and South Africa’s Sasol, is yet to decide on the location of its proposed Rs450bn coal-to-liquid project in Orissa. (BS)

Mumbai-based Oberoi Realty, which plans to raise Rs15bn, filed its draft red herring prospectus for an IPO of 39.6mn equity shares with a face value of Rs 10. (BL)

The government during the Budget 2010-11 may partially roll back tax cuts; raise service tax to 12% and increase excise duty marginally. (BS)

Finance Minister has asked Communications Minister to complete the auction of the 3G spectrum within the agreed deadline, inorder to reflect the revenue from it in the Union Budget 2009-10. (BS)

CERC announced renewable energy certificate norms in a bid to promote power generation from clean sources. (BS)

Failure to comply with renewable purchase obligations will attract ‘regulatory charges', the nature of which will be laid by the respective State Electricity Regulatory Commissions, for entities in the renewable energy business. (BL)

One of the most favoured duty reimbursement schemes among exporters - the Duty Entitlement Passbook scheme - is likely to be scrapped as the government gears up to introduce the Goods and Services Tax from April 1. (BS)

The Centre has suggested setting up a common dispute resolution scheme for settlement of cases in the proposed goods and services tax. (BS)

The Supreme Court today asked TRAI to fix tariffs for DTH services by June 30 and place the plan before it. (BS)

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet today approved Rs888mn Government guarantee for six co-operative sugar factories to meet their financial requirements during the current season. (BL)

ATF will be kept out of the GST net even as the domestic airline industry is keen on its inclusion in the new tax system. (BL)

The finance ministry has rejected a proposal from the department of industrial policy and promotion to drop the mandatory three-year lock-in for foreign direct investment in real estate.(ET)

The Orissa High Court has directed CBI to investigate the alleged Rs310bn mark-to-market gains of leading banks from exotic foreign exchange derivative contracts that were made at the expense of customers. (FE)

There is nothing so disastrous as a rational investment policy in an irrational world.

Markets have never been known to be rational. But there is some relief for households and corporates alike as sugar prices are getting rational. It remains to be seen if the Government manages to lower prices of other essential commodities as well. The relief may turn out to be temporary as ad-hoc measures can have only a limited impact on inflation. In any case, one should brace for a gradual and calibrated rise in interest rates.

We expect a flat start today after Monday’s advance. Overall, the market will be choppy and rangebound. Technically, 5300 continues to be a major hurdle for the Nifty. If it is breached convincingly, the Nifty could head for 5400-5420. Support is likely at 5180-5200. A spate of stock-specific action will persist so avoid taking a broader view for now. For some time, the market may seem to go nowhere but individual stocks could have their moments of glory.

Asian shares are flat in a quiet trade, as investors await key earnings from across the globe. Gains in commodity-sector firms, helped European stocks end higher. US markets were shut due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

FIIs were net buyers in the cash segment on Monday at Rs1.52bn on a provisional basis. The local funds were net sellers of Rs214.6mn, according to figures published on the NSE's web site. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers at Rs128.2mn. As per the SEBI figures, FIIs were net sellers of Rs8.9bn in the cash segment on Friday.

European shares ended higher on Monday, with gains for commodity-sector firms and Richemont fueling a rebound from last week's earning-related retreat. After ending a four-week winning streak with a 1.5% drop last week, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 0.7% to close at 258.21. Miners were in the lead as metal futures advanced.

The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.7% to end at 5,494.39, while Germany's DAX index climbed 0.7% to settle at 5,918.55 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.6% to finish at 3,977.46.

Currency strategists at Citigroup said that they expect continued pressure on the euro until Greece's fiscal situation becomes clearer. "The European Union appears prepared to go to the brink to force Greece to undertake a decisive fiscal adjustment. If this doesn't take place, we ultimately expect a rescue, by one way or another," they said.

The Euro held its ground versus the dollar but slipped to a four-month low versus the British pound as European finance ministers prepare to discuss Greece's debt problems. Greek banks were lower.

Chocolate maker Cadbury climbed 1.8% to 807.5 pence per share after reports that Kraft Foods Inc. is preparing to raise its bid to around 820 pence a share, ahead of Tuesday's bid deadline.

Dubai government says its $10bn bailout from Abu Dhabi will be half the amount it had been expecting.

Risk appetite is still strong as speculation of strong Chinese data later in the week drove the dollar and yen lower

Indian markets started off the week with modest gains on Monday as bulls continued its northbound journey. Sentiments got a fillip after IT major TCS and banking heavyweights like HDFC Bank and Axis Bank delivered impressive quarterly numbers. The PSU stocks like Andrew Yule, EIL, NMDC, FACT also hogged the limelight on account of disinvestment buzz.

Auto and the Consumer Durables were among the other major gainers. The Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap stocks also attracted fair buying interest.

The BSE Sensex gained 87 points to end at 17,641 after touching a high of 17,712 and a low of 17,505. The Nifty added 23 points to end at 5,275.

Equity markets in Asia ended in the red. The Nikkei in Japan was down 1.2%, while Australia's S&P/ASX ended marginally higher by 0.2%. The Shanghai SE Composite was up 0.4% and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.9%.

In Europe, stocks were trading higher. The DAX in Germany was up 0.5% and the CAC 40 index in France was up 0.4%. The FTSE in the UK was up 0.5%.

Coming back to India, among the BSE sectoral indices, the Banking index was the top gainer, adding 2.5%, followed by the PSU index that was up 2% and the BSE Auto index was up 1.7%. The BSE Mid-Cap index edged higher 0.5% while BSE Small-Cap index added 0.6%.

Among the 30-components of Sensex, 19 stocks ended in the positive terrain and 11 ended in the red. HDFC Bank, Hero Honda, ICICI Bank, M&M and Wipro were among the top gainers.

On the other hand, Grasim, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Sun Pharma were among the top losers.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were Hindustan Copper, NMDC, UCO Bank, RCF and MRPL. On the other hand, losers included Madras Cem, Jet Airways, Ultratech Cem and Balrampur Chini.

Shares of Gail surged 3% to end at Rs439 after the company announced its Q3 results with net profit of Rs8.59bn for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 as compared to Rs2.53bn for the quarter ended December 31, 2008.

Total Income has increased from Rs60.46bn for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 to Rs63.31bn for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

GAIL India also announced that it plans to raise Rs50bn in the year starting April 1, including Rs20bn in overseas bonds and Rs15bn in overseas borrowings, R.K. Goel, director of finance, was quoted as saying. The company is also planning to buy a 4% stake in the Myanmar-China gas pipeline, Chairman B.C. Tripathi was quoted as saying.

Shares of ABG Shipyard rose over 5.5% to end at Rs315 after reports stated that the company may sell its entire 15.2% stake in Great Offshore to a PE fund within six months.

"The talks are in the initial stage and may take 5 to 6 months for closure," ABG Shipyard CEO Dhananjay Datar was quoted as saying. ABG Shipyards recently through one of its units, Eleventh Land Developers had acquired 5.7m shares of Great Offshore through an open offer.

SAIL announced that it has reduced long product prices by Rs3,000 per metric ton last week, stated reports. Shares of SAIL slipped by 1.1% to end at Rs234, the scrip opened at Rs237 it touched an intra-day high of Rs237.60 and a low of Rs233 and recorded volumes of over 0.6mn shares on BSE.

Shares of Triveni Engineering shot up by over 6% to end at Rs120 after the company announced that its board of directors will meet on January 20, 2010, to consider evaluate and decide the options for restructuring the Company's businesses. The scrip opened at Rs111 it touched an intra-day high of Rs122 and a low of Rs111 and recorded volumes of over 0.95mn shares on BSE.

Infotech Enterprises announced that the company's wholly owned subsidiary in the US, Infotech Enterprises America Inc., has acquired the Illinois based Daxcon Engineering Inc., a Company engaged, inter alia, in the business of providing product design engineering services to original equipment manufacturers.

The Company also signed a long term agreement with Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation (HSC), a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, to provide embedded software and electronic engineering design services by setting-up a "Centre of Excellence (CoE)" in Bangalore.

This is a new four year contract and will enable Infotech to work with all HSC divisions across multiple disciplines and projects in a real-time engineering environment with an opportunity to add 400 engineers over the next three years.

Shares of Infotech Enterprises surged by over 3.5% to end at Rs306. The scrip opened at Rs299 it touched an intra-day high of Rs311 and a low of Rs299 and recorded volumes of over 42,000 shares on BSE.